Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Full of enthusiasm, I drove across to Chev for this week's first workout; ready to warm-up, pressed the 'power on' button of the Garmin.......flat battery! I could have sworn I recharged it yesterday after Saturday's long run. What a mess : no GPS, no stop watch or any kind of watch to let me know distance, pace or even time!

The best I could do was assume the lane was 200m and run like mad for 6 laps to make approx. 1200m reps. There's no doubt VP would have won each and every one today! I did try as best I could but I just couldn't put it all together, so it's probably a good thing I have no record of the session to haunt me further!

Between now and Fisher's Ghost 5km, 11 days, I'll concentrate mainly on the 3 key workouts, making sure I run at the paces set out in the program and just do some walking as cross-training in between. I hope never to be so disorganized again!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

It's the best of all possible days here in the Southern Highlands : only 11 degrees, cool breeze, blue sky and not a cloud in sight. If there was ever a day to run hills, this has to be it! Sadly, I didn't make it to the top of Range Road without a break as I'd hoped to do. Old South Road is what kills me! It keeps going up and up, getting steeper all the way, so I ran for only 10 minutes there and just couldn't breathe and had to walk a few steps before beginning the charge uphill again!

Old South Road & left into Range Road

After 2.5km there's a leveling out for about 200m, after which I turned left at the roundabout into Range Road and the climb began again, straight up for about another 1.5km before reaching the crest. After that it's all rolling hills that I can run without stopping ..... feeling like I'm in heaven and could run forever! Uphill, 57 minutes out/48 minutes back, mostly downhill!

Program : 11km...I did 14kmPace...I didn't bother about; survival was my only concern!

14km in 1 hour 45 minutesAvg. Pace 7:30m/k

For the weeks 3 key workouts ~~~ 32.8km

On Range Road you can see forever.....

Somewhere in the valley is Diamond Fields Road & Sydney over the horizon!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Nevertheless, I wasn't idle! I didn't run today for two reasons, the first being that I want to do my long run tomorrow up to the crest of Range Road which means twelve kilometres of hilly terrain and I need to be fresh for that especially when I hope to get to the top without a walk break!

The other reason is I needed to do some more outdoor work around home, which was to cut down some heavy branches from a too large camellia tree. Firstly though,, I climbed into a weeping cherry tree to break off masses of dead branches so as to let the light in...the tree looked very happy when I finished! I was also happy that I didn't fall out of the tree!

With the camellia tree in mind, at about11:00am I hauled the ladder from the garage and armed with my trusty chain saw (gulp!), climbed the ladder and plunged the saw into the heart of tree until limb after limb came crashing down. Thankfully I didn't come crashing down with them! Everything then had to be raked and tucked away till the handyman makes a trip to the tip. A thoroughly worthwhile, outdoorsy day!

That was five hours of what I'm calling 'cross-training'!

Tomorrow looks like being a cool day, much like today, and I do so hope I can do my run without a walk break on the hills. At the top is permissible if necessary, but not on the way up!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Round and round, like a horse in a mill! I ran today's tempo run on Chev. track in a narrow lane, guessing about 40cm wide and, according to the Garmin, 194m around...calling it 200m for convenience sake, which means that for each 3.5km, I ran around 17.5 times! It wasn't rollicking fun but neither was it as frightening as I'd anticipated!

It was a good day for such a challenging event! Very warm but thick cloud cover and breezy.

The Hurdy-Gurdy!

A few drills 1.5km warm-up

3.5km in 22:13.4 / 6:28.6; 6:12.6; 6:22.9; 500m 3:09.3

1.5km easy

3.5km in 22:21.3 / 6:23.8; 6:18.7; 6:21.3; 500m 3:17.5 Usual stretches.I was chatting to the ground keeper after I finished. He wanted to know what on earth I was doing! Poor man must have thought I was completely unhinged! Must admit I was feeling a little brain-sick after running around the track 57.5 times! (Hoping my Maths are correct!!). I changed direction every 3 - 4 rounds so that I didn't become giddy and go heels over head! The ground keeper is going to measure the lane with a wheel and let me know next week what the exact distance is; it'll be interesting to compare with the GPS.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The truth is : I had a huge load of soil delivered to top dress a section of the front lawn where trees have been cut back and which had stopped the grass from growing over a large area. After it had been unloaded, my job began.....shovel and rake, shovel and rake till it was all evenly spread. That was an upper body workout if ever there was one! Tomorrow, I'll throw seed everywhere and hope that, with some TLC, it will grow into a lush, green lawn....or just lawn will do!

Today : Cross-training the upper body!I'm trying to decide where to do tomorrow's tempo run.....on the streets or the 240m track at Chev. The latter could drive a person crazy...10km total going round and round....I don't think I could survive that! I'll have to think about it.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Well, You never can tell how a run is going to turn out! Or even why! Running from an 'iffy' start to an "all done in" finish completely wrecked. I had a bit of a tummy problem all the way - but I've had plenty of those in the past and carried on - so I can partly blame that I suppose, but this was debilitating, total all-over body tiredness and I have never felt anything like that before, never so completely 'bankrupt'!

Except for a glass of icy water brought out to me by a friend in one of the properties on Diamond Fields Road, I think I might have crawled into one of the wombat holes for the night! I called in on two other friends looking for mercy but no one home in either place. It was my first experience of overwhelming physical and mental inertia! Why, so bad, I wonder?

At home, I moaned and groaned to Amy and Oscar who looked quite disinterested, I showered, forced down a bowl of soup, went to bed and slept soundly for two hours! I simply cannot understand myself at all!! And only 3 weeks till Fisher's Ghost 5km.

Program : On Diamond Fields Road... specifically chosen for its hills!

12 km....I did 14k with frequent short walk breaks and walked the last 1km.Time 1:51:13 Avg. pace 8:04m/k

Friday, October 19, 2012

I want tomorrow's long run to be a long, hilly one, so I took today off and did shopping, had a blood test to check on cholesterol, etc. and went for a longer walk with Amy and Oscar.

Warm to hot day, but mainly cloudy in this part of the world; tomorrow, hotter again. I'll most likely run on Diamond Fields Road for hills and shade....without face planting on the rocky surface again!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

I think VP finished about 100m ahead of me this morning! Yet another warm, spring day, some cloud and a nice breeze. I ran on road for this week's tempo run and included a couple of short hills where, I presume, VP saw his opportunity and seized it!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

More than half the lanes are invisible now so a lot of guess work. Not that it mattered, because I had my Garmin auto lap set at 400m and had only to keep running until I felt the vibration alert on my wrist. Easy!

The very helpful grounds man told me they haven't decided whether to leave the track where it is with 6 lanes or move it back to where it was and have 8 lanes. The northern end is like a swamp and doesn't seem to be drying out at all.

A warm day with thick cloud cover and looking like there might be more rain. The session was good, I thought, and it wasn't too hard by any means.....but I was pleased there were no more than 10 repeats!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Every bit of today's run was a slog! Having two days off might be the reason, but the weather over these past two days has been too wet, far too windy and freezing cold to go out. I thought I'd be fresh for today's longer run but not the case at all : legs sluggish all the time and several short walk breaks. The first 6km was up and down every hill and long incline in Renwick streets before heading off into flatter parts.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Well! Someone got today's forecast for the Southern Highlands wrong! Sunny spring day! I could have left the tempo run until today instead of doubling up. Doesn't matter, I did some work in the garden and took Amy and Oscar for a longer walk.

My Good Deed for the Day ~~~ While walking, I noticed one of the cows with her calf had beaten the security system and had themselves locked in an enclosure where they couldn't get back out. Funny things, cows! Fortunately, I had met the owner months ago when he brought a herd in to feed on the grass in the Renwick paddocks and he had given me his mobile number in case I saw anything amiss at any time....unofficial cattle-watcher! Now that they have all given birth to wonderful little calves, I'm particularly vigilant!

I phoned the manager and told him the sad story; he was most grateful and was coming all the way from Camden to the rescue!

Several hours later.... I've just had a call to say all went well; mother and calf safely back with the herd and I'm to resume unofficial duties as normal!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

I would ordinarily do a tempo run tomorrow, Thursday, but if the weather forecast is right, we're in for a very cold and very wet day. For that reason I did two key workouts back-to-back instead of an easy day between.

I ran inside the oval fence of Chev. track rather than trying to find lanes. The far end of the oval was a quagmire and every step in that section saw my foot disappear into the spongy, wet ground. Extra effort I didn't really need!

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Across to Bowral for track session at Chev. College. The northern end of the track lane markings completely gone, so it was with the help of pieces of tissues, my jumper, towel ...anything I could use as a guide.... that I was able to find my way around without wandering all over the oval! That nice grounds man has forgotten to mow a strip for me! Maybe rain is to blame. Anyhow, I did the session as best I could :

Monday, October 08, 2012

The hill might not have been steep enough because after the first 2 repeats, when I was puffing at the top, the rest seemed to feel a little easier. Sounds contradictory! In any case I don't want DOMS when I step onto the track tomorrow and the session has to have been of some value.

Saturday, October 06, 2012

What a change from yesterday! 26 degrees down to 12 today, perfect for a long run as was the fog and misty rain that fell across the Southern Highlands today. I thought of those running at Fitzroy Falls not far from here and hoped no one took a dive over a precipice!

Program :11km @ LT pace (6:41 for me)

I did 2 km extra this morning because I felt good and the misty rain was so pleasant for running.

Today's 13km run.

I ran the first and last kilometre around the Highlands School; the rest through Renwick and surrounding streets. I stopped for a minute or two to 'talk' to two friendly dogs that have come to know me; one is the biggest Weimaraner I've ever seen and the other one, a tiny terrier...a very odd couple! I mention them because I made the mistake of stopping my Garmin and, of course, forgot to turn it on again, probably best part of a kilometre later! Stupid thing to do, especially as I have 'auto pause' set for any time I stop. It shows by a red line on the map. Anyhow, I'm only claiming 13km even if I did more...to teach me a lesson!

Thursday, October 04, 2012

A very warm day.....still over 22 degrees now at 4:15pm. Last night I made the decision to do more running on soft grass surfaces where I could also run barefoot. This morning I drove across to Bowral to use the track at Chev where I'd run on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the grass has completely covered a large area of the lane markings and, more unfortunately, there's quite a bit of prickly pear and bindii on which I managed to tread a few times. Stings like crazy! VP was set to run 6:22m/k.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

I drove across to Bowral to run on the track at Chevalier College, only to be soundly thrashed by VP in every repeat!

Program :10-20 min warm-up4 x 1000m (5:55). 400m RI10 min cool-down.

Unfortunately, the grass has overgrown the white lane markingsin some sections, making it guess work as to whether I was in the lane or not. I spent some time putting towel and other bits and pieces down to give me some guidelines. That helped in so far as it stopped me running out of the oval, but I just couldn't keep up with VP at all! The first 1000m I ran with lactic legs and thereafter slowed down to give VP victory in the following three repeats! The very nice grounds man watering the cricket pitch in the centre of the oval said he'll mow a lane for me to use in future....the only good news of the day!

1000m

2km warm-up4 strides 5:58:9; 5:58:0; 6:01:2; 6:09:21km cool-downStretches......the only time I felt comfortable!Tomorrow's cross-training is going to be some very easy recovery running ahead of Thursday's tempo session. I was surprised at just how lethargic my legs were this morning and how difficult I found the longer distances on the track. I thought to myself, as I staggered to finish each repeat : if it's this hard to run 1000m, how the hell am I going to keep going for 5000m? No idea at this stage but I think it's going to hurt!